Life is what happens while you're busy
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Hawkeye is hit with the biggest tragedy of his life, and then his pregnant girlfriend shows up at the most inconvenient time. How can Hawkeye reconcile the loss of his own father with the reality that he would soon become one? With a little help from his friend BJ, as always.


Hawkeye, as despondent as BJ had ever seen him (and he'd seen most of Hawkeye's 'incident' in Korea...), poured himself another drink and offered the bottle to his best friend. BJ politely shook his head and instead stood to pour himself a cup of black coffee.

It was five years after the war had ended, and BJ was paying a visit to Hawkeye back in Crabapple Cove. This was not quite a friendly reunion, and actually the rest of the gang had left town the night before. BJ wisely decided that he needed to stay and support his friend just a few days longer...Hawkeye was in that bad of shape.

The event that necessitated this visit was a very sad one...Hawkeye's much beloved father, Daniel Pierce, had suddenly passed away in his sleep just 7 nights earlier. Poor Hawkeye..when BJ stopped to think of how his best friend, his brother in wartime, the one who sustained his sanity during the worst times of his own life, had must have felt when he'd gone in to check on his father and discovered what he had...well, there were reasons BJ didn't let himself think about that thought for very long.

"How's Betsy doing...she seems like a great gal..."BJ commented, nearly choking on the bitterness of the coffee. Had the coffee even been changed that day...or that week, actually?

Betsy was Hawkeye's semi-serious girlfriend of 3 months. BJ had heard great things about her...from what he'd gathered when he'd first met her, she came across as quite shy. But actually, in a small group of people, she seemed to have a great sense of humor, and more importantly, she knew how to play off Hawkeye's own unique style of telling jokes. As far as BJ was concerned, she was a great match for his friend. It had been about time he'd made the effort to kind of, in his own way, settle down.

Hawkeye didn't even look up from staring at the bottom of his glass. "Hmm?"

BJ smiled. "Betsy, you know, great legs, great...sweater...the gal I might have been with if I hadn't met the love of my life."

"You mean me?" Hawkeye tried to joke around, but nothing, not even the booze, not the presence of BJ...nothing seemed to ease his pain.

BJ just smiled half-heartedly. It broke his heart to see his friend like this. "Yeah..Betsy..the other beautiful blonde in your life, other than myself, of course."

Hawkeye's eyes met BJ's, and for a brief second, the slightest hint of life could be seen in them. "Betsy..yeah, she's great."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did your father like her..."

Hawkeye sighed. "He adored her. On the second time meeting her, he asked if she was the marrying type. I think he was trying to tell me something..."

BJ chuckled. "Sounds like Daniel.."

"But by the end of that meeting, he also asked her if she liked children, and how many she wanted to have."

Now they both shared a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, the only person about as subtle as your father is his son..."

Hawkeye grinned, then started tearing up. Within seconds he'd broken down into tears, and all BJ knew to do was to put his arm around his friend, pull him close, and just let Hawkeye cry it out. Sometimes that's all the medicine even the best of doctors could provide.

00000

He was definitely not expecting the visit from Betsy that night some four months later, and he was most definitely not expecting her announcement that she was pregnant.

It was the last thing he needed to hear. He was mad, trying to figure out how it happened. Of course he knew how it happened, but when...why...

then it dawned on him...a few nights after his father's funeral...they shared a night...he wasn't quite sure, but after a night of drinking it was entirely possible that rubbers were the last thing on his mind.

Oh, shit.

A baby...this was the last thing he needed, or even wanted. So the next day without saying a word to Betsy, he packed some bags and caught the red-eye to Mill Valley.

0000

After listening to Hawkeye's ranting and raving for a few hours, BJ had enough. He stood up, took away Hawkeye's beer, and threw the can away angrily.

"Geesh, Beej, what's gotten into you?" Hawkeye griped.

"What's gotten into me? I should be asking the same of you! You come here, not even telling your pregnant girlfriend you were leaving...and you want to move in with me? With a baby on the way? Jesus, Hawkeye, do you even pay attention to yourself when you speak?"

"If I needed a lecture do you really think I would have flown all this way..."

"Forget a lecture! What you need is a shower! Go! Peg, dear, can you set the guest towels and toiletries in the bathroom...make sure you put my shaving cream and a razor in there..." BJ called to his wife.

Hawkeye scowled. "Who do you think you are? My father?" He stood up, looking for his rental car keys, which BJ had the foresight to take from him earlier.

"No. No, I'm not your father. I can't be your father. Your father was a wonderful, wonderful man, not that you need me to tell you that. I can't be him. No man can. But you're about to become a father, and perhaps its time you start acting like the man you loved all your life."

Hawkeye's face reddened. "You have no right..."

"I'm sorry, Hawkeye. This isn't about me. It's not even about you. Not everything is, and it's time someone pointed that out to you. You have a pregnant girlfriend back home, scared, alone and confused. Not to mention an innocent child on the way who certainly did not ask to have his father abandon him. I was there at his funeral. I heard everything you and his friends had to say about him. What would your child's family and friends say about you, given how you're ready to write that child off before he even has a chance in life?"

Peg came down and let Hawkeye know that the bathroom was ready for his shower.

Hawkeye stared BJ down, and after wisely deciding not to say anything else, he walked upstairs, angry at BJ, at Peg, and most of all, angry at his father for not being there when he needed him the most.

0000

When Hawkeye got back home, he did drive over to Betsy's house. It took him an hour to get out of the car, but he did. What he would say, he had no idea. But he was there, and that had to count.

Finally he knocked on the door, and a teary eyed Betsy opened the door. Nothing was said. She prepared his coffee and sat it down in front of him at the kitchen table. Hawkeye sank down in his chair, and stirred mindlessly at the coffee. Nevermind he took his coffee black.

"Hawkeye..."

He looked up. "No, Betsy, it's not you. It was me. I know I freaked out..I don't know what to say. I'm not proud of myself. I wish I could say that it was just my dad's passing that threw me...but the truth is, all of my life I've been the irresponsible one. I'm been carefree and careless. In the back of my mind, I always knew that as long as I had my dad...then I wouldn't have to settle down, to grow up, to take ownership of my actions. But now..." his voice trailed away, and he fought like mad not to break down yet again.

"Now you have a lot of growing up to do," Betsy said without a trace of emotion in her voice.

Hawkeye just sighed and nodded. That he did...he most certainly did.

00000

Months later, as BJ tried to calm down Hawkeye, who was pacing the sterile white floor of the hospital waiting room, even his long time friend wondered how Hawkeye would react to the sight of his first child. Hawkeye was many things- most of them admirable. He was the best friend a person could ask for, a dedicated doctor, the funniest person BJ had ever known, a rebel against authority, a moral voice against the rages and evils of war...but now above all, Hawkeye was a father. How that would sit with the lifelong confirmed bachelor was anyone's guess.

Finally the moment they'd been anxious for arrived. The doctor stepped out of the room, looked at Hawkeye, and smiled. "Congratulations. Your wife would like to see you..."

"She's not my wife," Hawkeye sighed.

The doctor looked at him puzzled, then just nodded. "Anyways, your wife and son..they are doing just fine. Congratulations, Dr. Pierce."

BJ started to choke up as he looked at Hawkeye, watching for the moment it truly hit him that not only was he a father, but he had a boy. A son.

Hawkeye stared at the doctor, and then looked at BJ. BJ braced his friend's arms, and at first Beej wasn't sure if his friend was laughing or crying. Turns out, he was doing both.

"A boy...a son?" Hawkeye choked up. "I have a son?"

BJ, unable to hide his tears, simply nodded. "You do...you have a boy. If you don't take my word for it, let's go meet the little fella for yourself."

Hawkeye froze. "I can't...what if...what if I can't do this? What if I drop him? What if the baby looks like me...or heaven forbid, what if he acts like me? My god, Beej...what have I done?"

"You made a life. A beautiful baby boy."

"How do you know he's beautiful?"

BJ grinned. "Because he looks like his daddy. Just don't tell Peg."

It took Hawkeye a second to get it, but once again, as always, BJ always knew how to make him laugh. "Come on, Beej. Let's go meet my son."

00000

The moment Hawkeye took his boy into his arms for the first time was a moment that would stay with him for the rest of his life. This little, tiny, red-faced, pointy headed baby was his...all his. Had such a beautiful baby ever been born, he wondered?

An exhausted Betsy looked on happily. "What do you think...Dad?" she grinned, wiping off the sweat off her forehead.

"I don't...I'm speechless. I honestly don't know what to say."

BJ grinned again. "Betsy, where have you been all of Hawkeye's life..."

Hawkeye smirked at BJ, then his attention went back to his newborn son. The baby had dark hair, and like all caucasian babies, had blue eyes...but even Hawkeye knew that this child's eyes would always stay blue.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, folks, but we need a name.." the nurse smiled.

Hawkeye looked around. He honestly hadn't let himself get to that point where he could allow himself to think of a name. "I don't know...I have no idea..."

"Daniel," Betsy spoke up. "Daniel Pierce."

Hawkeye, looked at BJ, who just nodded. "It's perfect, Hawk."

"Here..you'd better take him. I'm afraid I'm going to break him..." Hawkeye handed the newly christened infant to his mother.

"Hawkeye...what do you think of the name?" Betsy asked as she cradled the baby near her chest.

"I think..."Hawkeye began to choke up. "I think it's the most perfect name in the world. I couldn't have picked out a more perfect name."

"We're going to take the baby to the nursery now. Your wife..er, girlfriend, has had quite a night and needs her rest," the nurse said as she took the baby from Betsy.

"One second." Hawkeye glanced over and took his child's hand in his. "You have a lot to live up to, kiddo. My dad...your granddad, was the funniest, kindest, most compassionate man I've ever known. It was an honor to be his son. As much as an honor as that has been my entire life..I can honestly say...it's an equal honor to be your father. I hope I...I hope I just don't let you down."

BJ patted Hawkeye on the back, and smiled at Betsy. "I think I'll leave you two alone. Something tells me you two have a lot to talk about."

Hawkeye stared nervously at BJ. "Beej?"

He turned around.

"Thank you...for...you know. For being you."

BJ smiled. "I'm glad I'm me, too."

Everyone laughed, and then Hawkeye turned to Betsy. "We do have to talk..."

"We did well, Dad.."

He nodded. "We sure did."

"Whatever you want to talk to me about...all of that can wait. We have a son. A son! Right now, that's all that matters," Betsy sighed.

Hawkeye looked at her through new eyes. This wasn't the way his life was supposed to turn out. He was a doctor, a friend, an amateur drinker...being a father and life partner wasn't in the plans.

But as he watched the mother of his son drift off to a much needed sleep, all Hawkeye could think of was that while life was rarely what one pictured it to be like, every once in a while, it turned out to be better, so very, very much better.

The end


End file.
